--- title: Tom Hanks to Star as Mister Rogers in 'You Are My Friend' description: The movie is based on the relationship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. canonical: https://time.com/5123854/tom-hanks-mister-rogers/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-29T20:31:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:03:47.314Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Tom Hanks Will Play Mister Rogers in New Film og:description: 'You Are My Friend' is based on the relationship between Fred Rogers and a journalist og:url: https://time.com/5123854/tom-hanks-mister-rogers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce985e668866d5e5/6988f9ec8fd2ee642135a7e0/tom-hanks-mister-rogers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FRANCE-US-CINEMA-PENTAGON PAPERS-THE POST og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tom Hanks Will Play Mister Rogers in New Film twitter:description: 'You Are My Friend' is based on the relationship between Fred Rogers and a journalist twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce985e668866d5e5/6988f9ec8fd2ee642135a7e0/tom-hanks-mister-rogers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tom Hanks Will Play Mister Rogers in New Film _You Are My Friend_ by [Anthony Breznican / EW](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Anthony Breznican / EW Jan 29, 2018 8:31 PM CUT  Tom Hanks at the Paris premiere of "The Post" on Jan. 13, 2018 Tom Hanks at the Paris premiere of "The Post" on Jan. 13, 2018Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images by [Anthony Breznican / EW](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Anthony Breznican / EW Jan 29, 2018 8:31 PM CUT It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Tom Hanks has signed on to star as [Mister Rogers](http://ew.com/tv/2017/05/23/remembering-mr-rogers/ "undefined") in _You Are My Friend_, a drama about the children’s television pioneer. The movie is based on the relationship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod, who got to know the star of _Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood_ while writing [a profile of him for _Esquire_ magazine in 1998](http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/ "undefined"). TriStar Pictures, which announced the movie Monday, describes it as a heart-warmer in which “a cynical journalist begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write a profile piece on the beloved icon and finds his perspective on life transformed.” Hannah Minghella, President of TriStar Pictures, said the story aims “to remind us all of the transformative power of kindness and respect to heal and to unite.” _Diary of a Teenage Girl_ filmmaker Marielle Heller will direct from a screenplay by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster who both worked on Amazon’s _Transparent._ The company Big Beach will produce the film, but a release date has not yet been set. “The script knocked me out with its message of kindness and its exploration of the human spirit,” Heller said. “As a mother, I am so inspired by the teachings of Fred Rogers and as a human I am in awe of his life’s work. I can’t wait to bring his story to the public and be a part of such a thoughtful, smart group of people who are all coming together to make this film, which truly feels to me like an antidote to our very fractured culture.” **_RELATED:_** [**_Remembering Mr. Rogers, a true-life ‘helper’ when the world still needs one_**](http://ew.com/tv/2017/05/23/remembering-mr-rogers/ "undefined") Rogers died at age 74 in 2003, but the countless television neighbors who grew up with him have kept his lessons alive for new generations of kids. The animated _Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood_ brings back many of Mister Rogers’ lessons and characters from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and a documentary about Rogers, [_Won’t You Be My Neighbor?_](http://ew.com/movies/2018/01/16/mr-rogers-wont-you-be-my-neighbor/ "undefined")_,_ just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and will be released this summer by Focus Features. _This_ [_article_](http://ew.com/movies/2018/01/29/tom-hanks-mister-rogers-you-are-my-friend/?utm%5Fcampaign=entertainmentweekly&utm%5Fsource=facebook.com&utm%5Fmedium=social "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://EW.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5123854/tom-hanks-mister-rogers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5123854/tom-hanks-mister-rogers/"},"headline":"Tom Hanks Will Play Mister Rogers in New Film You Are My Friend","datePublished":"2018-01-29T20:31:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:03:47.314Z","description":"The movie is based on the relationship between Fred Rogers and a journalist","url":"https://time.com/5123854/tom-hanks-mister-rogers/","keywords":["movies","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce985e668866d5e5/6988f9ec8fd2ee642135a7e0/tom-hanks-mister-rogers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anthony Breznican / EW"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce985e668866d5e5/6988f9ec8fd2ee642135a7e0/tom-hanks-mister-rogers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-US-CINEMA-PENTAGON PAPERS-THE POST","caption":"FRANCE-US-CINEMA-PENTAGON PAPERS-THE POST","creditText":"Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5123854/tom-hanks-mister-rogers/","name":"Tom Hanks Will Play Mister Rogers in New Film You Are My Friend"}}]}] ```